Vacancy Rates Rise for Radiographers in 2017 ASRT Survey

April 27, 2017 — The vacancy rate for radiographers increased to 4.2 percent in 2017, according to the latest American Society of Radiologic Technologists (ASRT) Radiologic Sciences Staffing and Workplace Survey.

The vacancy rates represent the number of positions that are open and actively being recruited. This year’s radiographer vacancy rate is an increase from the 3.4 percent rate reported in the 2015 staffing survey.

Overall, vacancy rates in four of the eight tracked medical imaging disciplines and specialties increased since 2015, with the remaining four areas showing slight decreases:

“From a statistical viewpoint, many of the changes in vacancy rates are not significantly different from the 2015 results; however, the survey results did show a relatively substantial uptick in the vacancy rate for cardiovascular-interventional technologists,” said ASRT Director of Research John Culbertson, M.Ed. “ASRT will conduct the survey again in 2019 to determine if rates change or stay comparably the same.”

In addition to vacancy rates, the report highlights information about workforce turnover and demographics. For example, the average number of full-time radiographers per medical imaging facility increased slightly in 2017 to 8.7, up from 8.4 in 2015. The average number of full-time CT technologists also increased slightly from 5.5 in 2015 to 5.8 in 2017, as did the number of mammographers from 4.1 in 2015 to 4.2 in 2017. The average number of sonography, nuclear medicine, cardiovascular-interventional and bone densitometry technologists per facility fell slightly. The average number of full-time MR technologists per facility remained the same at 4.1.

The survey data also highlights various work volume trends. For example, the study revealed the average radiography department has 3.7 machines, sees 11,658 patients per year and performs 20,566 images.

ASRT emailed the survey in February 2017 to 18,002 radiology department managers across the United States. At the close of the survey on March 13, 2017, 947 respondents had submitted completed questionnaires.